Introduction
The Government of Nepal
has planned to use ICT as tool in school education all over Nepal. Government
has not provided any resources for ICT development in school. NGOs are
providing Assistance in developing ICT infrastructure and training. School in
capital especially private school has been using ICT in education, but most of
the public school did not. Nepal Telecom
data shows that internet users are growing every year. It proves that digital
access is growing in Nepal. Therefore, possibility of ICT use in education is
growing in Nepal. This article shows study result about use of ICT tools in
education by rural primary teachers. This study conducted school and class
observation and teachers interview of 5 rural school as well as document
analysis.
ICT infrastructure
ICT infrastructure
means sufficient computer, internet availability, multimedia, skilled teacher
etc. The unreliable internet and old slow computer can hamper ICT use. Also
teacher training to integrate ICT in teaching activities is also important. ICT
facility also need to focus skill and knowledge of teacher and students’ need
to create a learning environment.
ICT and pedagogy,
ICT in education does
not mean just to use ICT tool. The use of ICT in teaching activities must be
able to connect with knowledge construction. ICT make it possible to learn
beyond the class room. Learning can learn on their own at suitable places. ICT use by teacher increased student learning
activities and student participation.
The role of ICT
knowledge and skills,
Teacher training must
include ICT training to enable it to apply in the classroom. Therefore, teacher
training course should include technological skill. Lack of ICT knowledge make
difficult to integrate current technologies such as internet, computer games
and apps in learning and teaching.
Digital resources in
the schools,
The participated schools in the study were provided with XO laptops provided by NGO which contain digital resources for major subjects. The devices are available in the school lab which can be used for teaching learning. But devices are insufficient for large number of students. Also, internet is not available, XO laptop does not contain the features available in other normal laptops available in the market, and XO laptop did not contain specific content, which limit its use in school.
Teaching with digital
technology and textbooks,
The participants used both
digital and text books in teaching. Text book were used in regular classes and
digital device give complimentary material. Digital devices, which contains
wide range of material which help children in further practice and
self-learning. Overall teaching is found to be more effective.
Teachers' perceived
preparedness,
There is not initial
training on ICT is provided to teacher. Teachers were provided with training by
NGOs that supported for providing ICT infrastructure. Teacher learning about
use of laptop, find contents which are already available in laptop and use
them. Therefore, teacher could not advance beyond they got from training to use
in daily life and create own materials for teaching.
Teachers' perception of
their practice with digital devices
The use of digital
devices shifted traditional way of teaching to student centered learning. It
provided opportunities for self-learning and collaborative learning. Use of
these devices developed friendly relation between teacher and student. It also
shifted role of teacher as facilitator.
Digital contents are random on the computer. Teacher
need to prepare well before class. Internet is not available. Also two school
had withdrawn all devices and stopped the use of technology in teaching and
learning activities. NGO taught teacher only required to use digital devices.
It has limited their learning use of computer.
However, lack of
government plan for providing training to teacher, lack of ICT infrastructure
and lack of pre-service teacher training on ICT etc indicated that ICT use in
education is not sustainable as mentioned in National curriculum framework.
Reference
Rana, K., Greenwood,
J., Fox-Turnbull, W., and Wise, S., A Review of a shift from traditional
pedagogy in Nepali Rural Primary Schools - Rural teachers’ capacity to reflect
ICT policy in their practice, International Journal of Education and
Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2018,
Vol. 14, Issue 3, pp. 149-166
